Patience rarely trends on social media. It doesn’t go viral. It doesn’t flash across ESPN headlines or flood our feeds with dopamine-laced clips. But every now and then, it wins a championship. Just ask the Oklahoma City Thunder.
On Sunday night, the Thunder outlasted the Indiana Pacers in a grueling Game 7 to bring home their first-ever NBA championship since moving to Oklahoma—an extraordinary achievement for a franchise once dismissed as too young, too small-market, and too slow-moving for today’s win-now culture.
But the Thunder didn’t just win a title. They proved a truth that every great business leader already knows deep down: continuity is a superpower.
“It’s an organization with remarkable stability,” wrote Anthony Slater of The Athletic, underscoring the roots of Oklahoma City’s rise, including GM Sam Presti spending almost two decades with the organization. “Presti has run the basketball side since day one. Owner Clay Bennett has kept much of the business side in place. Nick Collison was a beloved power forward during the original days. He’s in the front office now... Marc St. Ives, who runs logistics, started as an equipment manager for the franchise in Seattle in 1984.”
Let that sink in. The man overseeing logistics for an NBA champion started as an equipment manager 40 years ago. That kind of institutional memory is priceless. It doesn't happen by accident. It comes from a culture of trust, development, and long-term investment—one that values people as assets, not just tools. In business, we call that building a legacy.
From a leadership standpoint, Presti should be studied in business schools. Since 2007—when the team was still the Seattle SuperSonics—he’s been architecting a culture built not around splashy trades or hot takes, but around deliberate growth, deep character, and a belief in the compounding power of stability.
Of course, none of this would’ve happened without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander—OKC’s superstar guard who delivered night after night throughout the playoffs. But even SGA’s brilliance is a story of patience. He wasn’t an overnight sensation. He grew into this role over six seasons in Oklahoma, nurtured by a franchise that didn’t rush the process.
OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA - JUNE 08: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander #2 of the Oklahoma City Thunder attempts ... More a jump shot against Tyrese Haliburton #0 of the Indiana Pacers during the first quarter in Game Two of the 2025 NBA Finals at Paycom Center on June 08, 2025 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)Getty Images
“They've done an amazing job of building an environment, a winning environment,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “It's no fluke why we're here and why we have so much success and why we've grown so quickly... They’ve just given us a platform to be ourselves and be great, and we did so.”
In those six years, SGA has gone from promising rookie to Finals MVP—because the organization gave him room to evolve. In a results-obsessed world, the Thunder bet on development over instant gratification, and that’s the bet that won them a title.
The culture isn’t just on the court. Coach Mark Daigneault, another quiet architect of this success story, spoke volumes with his postgame remarks. “These are guys that have seen success taking that approach,” Daigneault said. “When you do something, then you find success doing it, it reinforces it, breeds commitment. The guys have done a great job of building that muscle over a long period of time now.”
OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA - JUNE 05: Head coach Mark Daigneault of the Oklahoma City Thunder looks on ... More during the second quarter against the Indiana Pacers in Game One of the 2025 NBA Finals at Paycom Center on June 05, 2025 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)Getty Images
That muscle? It’s called consistency. And here’s the thing: whether you’re running a basketball team or a startup, that same muscle will determine your future.
In fact, Rebecca Patterson, a Forbes Coaches Council member and growth strategist, put it best in an article for Forbes.
“It’s an absolute fact that if you can learn to do something consistently, you will discover much greater strengths and opportunities within yourself than you could have ever imagined,” Patterson wrote. “So many people amount to a fraction of their true capability because they are so inconsistent with what they do. So many businesses fail because the people running them lack consistency in terms of carrying out the tasks required to make goals achievable.”
Think about that in the context of your own business. Are you giving your team the structure and time to develop? Or are you chasing short-term results, hopping from initiative to initiative, hoping to catch lightning in a bottle? Are you building your leadership bench the way Presti did, allowing former players to transition into front-office roles—preserving legacy, context, and identity? Or are you swapping people in and out, forgetting that culture only survives through continuity?
Let the Thunder be your case study. Because in a league driven by highlight reels, they built a dynasty-in-the-making by focusing on what wasn’t seen: the practices, the conversations, the patience, and the trust. In the end, it all showed up on the scoreboard.
In a world addicted to speed, the Thunder just reminded us all: slow is smooth, and smooth is fast. The same lessons that built an NBA champion can build a great company. You just have to be willing to play the long game—and stay consistent.